Homeowners agree: There’s never been a better time to add a sauna, hammam, or meditation room
Imagine the sheer luxury of pairing an intense workout in your home gym with a luxurious steam or lengthy nap atop a heated marble bench.
If this sounds like a blissful spa experience that can only be experienced at your favorite resort, think again. These days, creating quiet, low-lit, warm and restful spaces in your own home is not only trending, but it’s an achievable reality.
“In Europe, saunas aren’t a wellness product; they’re a way-of-life product and that has caught on fast here in the U.S.”
- Logan Ross, director of Nordic Sauna
“We’re seeing that people want to live in a home that has everything,” says Monica Breese, owner of a boutique interior design and staging firm in Brooklyn and Miami. “By making slight tweaks to your overall design, you can create a space for your trainer to come to your home and lead you in a workout and then pop right into your own hammam to relax.”
Call it the result of the pandemic or maybe it’s just the home amenity du jour, but many homeowners are replacing large screening rooms (that tend to rarely get used) with spaces that rival the most luxurious of spas, starting with, of course, indoor and outdoor saunas.
“Over the past six years, we’ve experienced explosive growth, especially in sauna sales,” says Logan Ross, director of Nordic Sauna, a family-owned and operated company in Van Nuys, California, that’s one of the oldest in North America. “I attribute this to recent research that has come out on the connection between using a sauna and heart health.”
Or, perhaps Americans are leaning into more of a European lifestyle. “In Europe, saunas aren’t a wellness product; they’re a way-of-life product and that has caught on fast here in the U.S.,” Ross says. “The art of the sauna is the art of thermal bathing. Historically, the idea of a sauna wasn’t just ‘go into a hot room and sweat.’ Instead, the idea was to warm up and rejuvenate the body, mind, and soul.”
Wet rooms, steam showers, marble hammams and, even, snow rooms, which simulate a wintry day, are also gaining in popularity as homeowners seek rejuvenation without having to leave the house.
“In just about every home I’ve renovated we’ve installed a freestanding soaking tub, a rain shower and dual showers on either side of the wall to create a spa experience at home,” Breese says. “We’ve also started adding steam, heated floors and a separate toilet room. These are all things that transform a home into an ultra-luxe place. It’s this feeling of ‘wow I’m in my own little sanctuary!’”
To complete the experience, teeny pools are also trending.
“For some, it’s no longer necessary or even a priority to install an Olympic-size pool,” Breese says. “Itty bitty plunge pools, the ones that are about five-by-10 in size, are having their moment as are little cold plunge tubs—you can add those anywhere on your property.”
“In just about every home I’ve renovated we’ve installed a freestanding soaking tub, a rain shower and dual showers on either side of the wall to create a spa experience at home.”
—Monica Breese, owner of a boutique interior design and staging firm in Brooklyn and Miami
Making Room to Meditate
As important as it is to have spa-like features in a separate wing of your home, some innovative homeowners are adding serene yoga rooms and meditation spaces, too.
While heated floors would be a nice bonus—and would work wonders to keep you feeling grounded—simplicity is the key to making these spaces as peaceful and tranquil as possible, says Breese.
“You want that room or nook to have beautiful plants, incense, candles and, even, crystals,” she says. “There’s something spiritual and magical about cleansing the crystals at the time of the new moon.”
Rounding out the space: little poufs on the floor and yoga mats stacked to the side—at the ready for whenever you want to practice.
“To amp up the space, you could add a magical hanging chair,” she said. “This would be the perfect place to sit to gather your thoughts and meditate.”
A home altar is another item to consider adding.
“We’ve created many altars for clients to use as spaces for meditation and prayer,” says David Mann, founder of MR Architecture + Décor in New York City. “I often find that in the early phases of designing, when we are working with the client to understand what they require for such a space, I tend to learn a little something about belief systems that are different from my own. I love doing these sorts of installations because they challenge me to go in without any preconceived notions. I am hoping that, in turn, leads to original designs from me.”
And, ultimately, Mann’s perspective matches the goal of any space you want to live in: It should feel as authentic as possible to you—and to the life you want to lead within those four walls.
“We’ve created many altars for clients to use as spaces for meditation and prayer.”
— David Mann, founder of MR Architecture + Décor in New York City
In-Home Spa Innovations
Ask the experts and they’ll tell you that a Swiss shower or a rain shower head that feels like you’re stepping into a waterfall is a wonderful addition, but it’s also very 2023. There’s a lot more you can do to reconfigure your bathroom. So, if this is the year you want to renovate your bathroom spaces and take cues from nature in the process, consider these additions. Each one will assuredly transform a basic bathroom into something very bold. Here, Nordic Sauna’s Logan Ross sketches out a few of your options:
INFRARED WELLNESS ROOMS: Unlike a regular sauna that uses heat to warm the air, an infrared sauna uses light to create that same heat source. “The result is that you get the same health benefits of sitting in a room like this—just at a lower temperature,” he says.
SNOW SHOWERS: A snow shower is a device that gets activated in your bathroom via sensors in the unit that make the space look like a winter wonderland. “These are becoming more and more popular because people love the feeling of snow falling over you,” he says. “We encourage customers to incorporate this feature as part of their overall thermal bathing experience.”
SNOW ROOMS: Popular in Europe, these rooms create the effect of a forest covered in snow. “You can create an Arctic feel or a woodsy feel covered in snow,” he says, adding that homeowners are also creating glass walls where, with a press of a button, you can create instant snowfall from the ceiling. “You can even do a snow angel on the floor as you step in and out of your sauna.”
ICE FOUNTAINS: Interacting with ice is a huge trend this year, Ross says. “We do these more than the snow rooms,” he says. “A lot of people want an ice chute or ice fountain and these create shaved ice that can be mixed with essential oils. Next, you can make snowballs with the ice, put them on a heater and, after your sauna, rub the combination over your shoulders and neck to help you relax.”
SALT ROOMS: These are akin to a recovery, rejuvenation, and relaxation area featuring backlit built-in salt walls in a space that usually has an infrared heated lounger (or two). “Customers are using these to experience the therapeutic value of salt injected into the air,” he says. “Lying down on one of those chairs to relax in that space is yet another added bonus.”